CMU women overcome sluggish first half to stay perfect in MAC play

Despite an uncharacteristic night from beyond the arc and a sluggish first half, the Central Michigan University women’s basketball team ended Wednesday night the right way with a win.

Looking to improve to 4-0 in Mid-American Conference play, the Chippewas, behind another double-double from Crystal Bradford, held on for a 65-60 win over Northern Illinois at McGuirk Arena.

“We had to grind that game out,” said CMU head coach Sue Guevara. “I give Northern Illinois credit because they just shot the lights out on us in the first couple minutes and we just seemed to be missing wide-open 3’s and easy puppies. I give our team a lot of credit in the second half, and I especially have to talk about Jas’Mine Bracey with her free throws down the stretch. She finished the game with a double-double, and you know, I debated whether or not I was going to start her in the second half. But she’s a junior and you stick with her and she made a big fat difference for us.

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“I’m happy that we’re still undefeated at home and we know we’re always going to get the best shot from everybody, so we just have to be ready to give our best shot back.”

Wednesday’s win not only got the Chippewas (8-8, 4-0 MAC) back to .500 overall, it also preserved CMU’s undefeated season on its home court at 4-0.

Fresh off her first triple-double of her career and just the fourth in program history, Bradford took over when the time called for it Wednesday, finishing game with 27 points and 15 rebounds.

“I think we just got more hungrier in the second half. There’s something about our team where we come out in the second half rolling. I think we should come out to start like that in the first half, but we don’t,” Bradford said on CMU’s second-half performance. “Our 3’s weren’t working, however, our penetration was working well for us.”

CMU, which entered Wednesday’s game ranked fifth in the country in made 3-pointers per game with an average of 9.6, was just 4-of-21 (19 percent) against NIU. Typically the strongest 3-point shooter on the team, senior Niki DiGuilio went 1-for-7 from long range and was 1-of-9 from the field.

“I just did not hit my shots…I felt like defensively, I picked it up and I had to because my bread and butter wasn’t there, so I felt like I kept the team together,” DiGuilio said. “I’m on a struggle bus but I’ll get off it. Everyone knows I hit 3’s.”

After trailing 32-29 at halftime, CMU would go on an 18-12 run to open the second half, capped off by a Bradford layup with 12:05 to go to give the Chippewas a 47-44. NIU (6-8, 2-2 MAC) would tie the game for the final time less than two minutes later on a 3-pointer by Danny Pulliam with 10:56 remaining. The Chippewas would respond with yet another run, this time a 6-0 spurt that was aided from four points by Jessica Green. The junior would finish the game behind Bradford in the scoring column with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting to go along with three rebounds and two assists.

CMU held off a late rally by the Huskies as Bracey sealed the game at the charity stripe with a pair of makes in the final five seconds. Bracey finished with a big night on the glass as she brought down 14 boards to go along with 12 points.

Despite winning the battle of the boards with a 45-38 advantage, the Chippewas struggled on both on the glass and from the field for much of the first half.

After taking a 2-0 lead in the opening minute, CMU went cold from the field for nearly six minutes as the Huskies grabbed an 11-2 lead on a layup by Natecia Augusta with 14:53 to go. NIU would lead by as many as 12 on three occasions by the midway point of the half before suffering from shooting woes itself. Trailing 23-11 with 10:54 to go before the break, CMU would go on a 14-1 run to reclaim the lead at 25-24 on a Bradford layup with 5:14 remaining. That would be the final time that the Chippewas would lead until Bradford drained a 3-pointer less than three minutes into the final half.

Pulliam would lead the NIU effort with 18 points, while Augusta tallied 17 points and 10 boards. Amanda Corral also finished with 10 points and four assists for the Huskies, who shot 37.9 percent (22-58) from the field and 44.4 percent (8-18) from beyond the arc.

CMU will now get ready face yet another difficult test Saturday when it hosts Bowling Green. The Falcons (14-2, 4-0 MAC) are the only other undefeated team in the league, having already defeated Buffalo, Kent State, Akron and Ball State, while also registering impressive non-conference wins over Michigan and Ohio State.

“Between Duke and Kentucky and everybody else in non-conference, plus Toledo and Akron, we’ve had a few tests. Bowling Green is coming undefeated and we’re undefeated, but guess what? We’re playing in the McGuirk and that makes a big fat difference,” Guevara said.

Saturday’s contest is part of a doubleheader with the men. Tip-off for the women is slated for noon, while the men host Eastern Michigan at 7 p.m.

About the Author

Joe Buczek is the Alma College beat writer and prep sports writer covering the occasional CMU event at the Morning Sun. He is a broadcast and cinematic arts graduate of Central Michigan University. Reach the author at jbuczek@michigannewspapers.com
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